I didnít look my best when I showed up at the Western Wheel office on my first day as interim editor.

My head and ear tightly wrapped in a compression bandage, I had to calmly explain the reason to everyone who kept wondering what had, by the looks of things, gone terribly wrong.

ďIt was a disgruntled source.Ē

ďItís the real reason John Barlow stepped down as editor.Ē

ďIíve just become an editor, I had to get my head examined.Ē

I was kidding. The real answer is far more boring. It was a simple medical procedure that looked far, far worse than it really was.

In all seriousness, after six years at the Western Wheel Iím pleased and honoured to step up as interim editor.

I look forward to the challenge and I donít expect much to change. We will continue to cover Okotoks, Black Diamond, Turner Valley and the rest of the foothills community as we always have.

Obviously there is one big change.

John Barlow is no longer editor and associate publisher, but donít be surprised if you see his byline as a staff reporter on the odd sports story or community feature.

I will be honest with you. I have a newspaper to fill each week and may need to ask him to help out the rest of our editorial team once in a while. However, John Barlow will not write anything remotely political in nature and he will not cover any news issues or events. He will not participate in our weekly story meetings, or editorial discussions and he will have no say in where individual articles end up in the paper.

In the meantime, you may recognize a few familiar names and see some new ones as some Wheel Staff and a couple new writers will lend a hand where needed. Itís greatly appreciated.

You may see my new ďinterimĒ title and ask just what that means.

Iíll be honest with you again, I donít really know yet. We knew the day was coming that the nominations would open for anyone looking to become the Conservative Partyís candidate in this springís Macleod by-election, but we were all caught off guard when it was suddenly announced on Jan. 20.

I wish everyone in the race the best of luck, itís certain to be a tight contest. In the meantime, the rest of the reporters and I here at the Western Wheel will work to keep our readers up to date on the candidates, the campaign and the final vote.

Itís going to be a busy six weeks, but this is the type of thing most journalists look forward to.

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